UnstampaBelles Card Challenge - I Could Have Dance all Night

Very happy to have been chosen as the winner for UnstampaBelles card Challenge # A Special Person.   To be honest most card makers stamp when making cards, and therefore no stamping itself is already a challenge.  It gives a different creative direction which is just as much fun and challenging.  

This week UnstampaBelles has a new challenge - 

I could have Danced all Night!

(Yep, you are all singing it now, even if it is just in your head - ear worm!)

with the TWIST to........ use RIBBONS!

REMEMBER:  NO STAMPS!

And I'm honoured to have been invited to creative a card for it.  Here's my production.

Basically it is 

  Washi tape on left border, 

  Ballerina cut-out (with Silhouette Cameo) with ribbons twined on the tutu, and sparkles on the bun hair.

  Double brackets (Tim Holtz Alterations On the Edge die) and a panel of yellow, orange and golden stripes. 

  Sentiment panel is used from a Kaisercraft paperpad.

From a different angle.

With the close-up you can see that the yellow stripes are actually golden.  It adds shine to the card and contrasts to the left purple/black tones.

So, can you make a card without any stamping?  And plus that can you make the challenge?  If yes then you should go for it.  I assure you it is fun and keeps your brain happily busy for hours! 

Pink Baby Card with Ribbon and Sparkles

Yet another trip has finished and now finally really settled down in Dubai.  I really enjoyed my Taiwan trip staying with my family and caught up with some friends (and all the excessive eating leading to 2 Kg weight gain) .  But guess what?  No flying for another six months! YAY! 

So yesterday I found some polka dotted paper from my good friend Renee, and it inspired me to make a cute baby girl card.  

Cute, right?  Well ya know, just as I stopped to think what to add on to the white area after putting the scalloped border on, I saw a mark on the panel where it was sitting on my stamping block. Oh no!  All the possible mending measures fleeting through my mind and then I decided to use a sparkle to hide it (and more just for the effect cos one is really awkward HA!)   Crisis resolved. Whew.

Love these sparkles! They are actually mobile phone sparkles I bought at ART FRIEND in Singapore but work just as well.

Valentine's Day Card made with just ribbons and twines - No punch, no stamp, no tool needed. Super easy!

Remember back in my home I had tons of washi tapes and I made all kinds of cards such as this one?

Cards like this takes little time to finish, and usually with simple lines washi tapes make great CAS cards.  Therefore, when I saw CAS-ual Friday's challenge this time, I knew my one hundred and one washi tapes will make it work. 

And then what do you know?  I forgot to pack any washi tape with me for travel this time.

So I looked around and found some ribbons I got from the local scrapbooking shop right before leaving Singapore.  And so I made this card. :-)

What I did was to position the two ribbons and fixed with double-sided tapes.  Then I hand-cut the hearts and stacked them together with foam tape, tied a twine, (notice that I cut the bottom of the bigger heart so the twine stays in place) and adhered with foam tape on the card.

Style-wise, since this card is for my husband, I want it to look modern and masculine.  I picked a geometric patterned paper and then use one pink and one chevron heart.  I think that pink heart is all he can take LOL.

And a close-up look at it you'll see the laminated crowns on the pink heart.  Cute!  :-D

So you see, no punch, no stamp, no tool. With just scissors it's surprisingly easy.  Happy card-making! (when you travel light :-D )

Handmade Spring/Summer Wreath

As a novice in arts and crafts world, I have accumulated a small stash of materials. Ribbons, special little boxes and buttons, punches and dies, embossing folders and powders, and fabrics and scrap papers and some special stationery from Japan.  But I use them all the time (sounds like a hoarder), just not all at once.

For example, I have been looking at unique (and often handmade) wreaths inspirations for a couple of years, and was very fortunate to have found a very cute wired mini garland at a cute shop in Taipei two years ago.  I have kept my loot (alone with others) in my work room quietly for two years since then.  And yesterday, while almost all the savvy housewives were busy looting Staub pots and Henckels knife sets in Takashimaya Dept. Store, I was just taking my time, wondering in the empty aisles of ART FRIEND (an art and craft supply store in Singapore)  with my daughter, and found the perfect ring for my wreath.  And then at home we had a nice nap together. Good life we have.

Time to make my first wreath, and so I gathered the materials at hand and started making it.  

Three simple materials required:

1. A foam ring with any size preferred. I bought two foam rings from Art Friend and decided to use the smaller one first. See pic.

2. Twine. I use what I have.

3. Mini garland to wrap around the ring.

4. Ribbons

Method:

Super easy. First wrap around the ring with the twine. Then wrap with mini garland. Then Tie a bow with the ribbon and a loop to hang on the hanger at your door.

The foam ring, which is flat on the back. 

Twine and garland.

A simple wreath is finished!

 I guess I can add more decorations to it but haven't thought of anything at the moment.  Perhaps some words, or more flowers.    

Demonstration by my daughter

Yes I know, the 3M hanger is super ugly and need to cover up with something. Just ignore that for now yeah?

My first handmade wreath. Not bad.